Hazel Stokes's page

Just as an FYI I'm going to go ahead and hide the campaign just to clear some space on my Campaigns page so just shoot me a PM if we start back up in the future.

I'm very sorry Jaime and I understand completely. Focus on what matters; I'm happy to resume if it ever becomes feasible and until then it's been a pleasure to game with all of you.

I've also got a Roll20 account for what games I have here that make use of it.

I've got a Discord account and am game to try a switch if everyone else is but it would take some getting used to to actually have the program running all the time and remembering to pay attention to it.

It's a little early but I finally got my work schedule for the month and wanted to note the following now:

I'll be out of town at a convention April 13th & 14th. Given the nature of conventions I likely won't be checking in or posting at all except for maybe quick notes in Discussion if necessary.

I'll also be out of town April 22nd - April 24th. For this I will have my chromebook and should be able to check in and make some posts in the evenings before bed.

That is all :)

*munches popcorn as she watches the events unfolding in Gameplay*

Checking in! No worries about Hazel being in a holding pattern with the others; things have been a little busy this week so it's good timing for me :)

Slightly Earlier

"Okay, got it," Hazel replies quietly. "Good luck and be careful in there, okay?"

"Where do you want the rest of us?" Hazel asks, eager to do what she can to help. "Is there any way we can keep some sort of tabs on you from outside? Maybe a messaging spell?"

"Whoa! Why would they be worshiping Dagon?" Hazel asks, looking unnerved. "And I wonder when that change happened?"

Most definitely unsuited to activities involving much subterfuge or stealth, Hazel makes it a point to stay back with the rest of the group during much of the early recon. She tries to keep her focus on the investigation at hand but her mind can't help but occasionally wander back to Croon and his idea for an underwater vessel...
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Still here, just sitting back and letting the stealthy do their thing~

"Fair enough," Hazel nods. "Let's give it a shot!"

^This is true. Even more so when you consider that mostly the same families have probably been attending for generations, given how isolated this place is. Anyone new is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

After Constantin shares what his divination revealed to him, Hazel scowls. "Well...I guess now we know that there's more to what's going on around here than just some sort of crazy cult. But that still doesn't tell us a damn thing about where we should start!"

"Okay, I vote we stake out the church and go from there; see what we find," Hazel continues, crossing her arms over her chest. "At least then we'll be actually doing something."

I say go for it, Constantin :)

Hazel pulls a facepalm at Kaz's suggestion and laughs. "That's a great idea and something we can get started on pretty quickly! Some sort of a stakeout, maybe at night - that'd be a great way to see what happens around here after the sun sets."

"Well, whatever we decide to do, we should probably get a move on with it," Hazel shrugs. "Sooner begun, sooner done and all that."

For our GM's benefit it sounds like we're basically in agreement to see if the Mayor can give us somewhere a little more secure to operate from and then to use some magical means to suss out where we should start first.

That said, most of our characters who can do that are currently pretty busy IRL based on previous posts and while I can't speak for anyone else I'm usually not comfortable botting other characters during investigative/RP sections without permission.

"Yeah, that's a good point too," Hazel admits. "And it'd be way too easy for someone to overhear us at the inn. Once we have somewhere a little more quiet to work from then maybe Kaz or Constantin or Vala can use their magic to give us a little insight on where to start first."

If people would rather go ahead with the more direct approach then that's fine with me.

"Sounds like a good start then," Hazel nods with approval. "I guess we'll still need to hammer out a plan of action but having your writ will definitely help if anyone starts giving us a lot of grief about what we're doing."
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I know folks are busy but how do we want to approach things? Constantin mentioned using Divination over in Discussion to get more insight on where we should start first.

That works too :)

Definitely still in!

Regarding the task at hand I want to say that maybe we should go meet these Neighbors but I'm not actually sure that we've got enough real in-game justification to do that just yet - outside of maybe simply wanting to completely canvass the area in and around Illmarsh and cover our bases.

We could always ask Croon his thoughts on the matter but he may not know anything more than what the Mayor's already told us.

And as much as Hazel likes being straightforward, even she thinks that we need to be careful about how we approach the Church, the Vizier, and the other locals.

Thoughts?

"Hopefully we can find an answer for you quick," Hazel remarks, noting the look Vala gives the rest of them. "But I don't know how much good it'll do to make a straight approach on the Order or Vizier. If we make ourselves seen as troublemakers or as really dangerous then we'll end up getting thrown in jail or run out of town."

"That's...really strange," Hazel remarks, looking troubled. "If you have people disappearing from their own beds then that means someone or something was able to get in after them without being noticed or something got in their heads to make them walk out of their own homes."

"When did people start going missing? Did anything else strange happen around that time?"

Auto-success on the SM here, too :)

"Zed and I went there earlier; they said they follow Gozreh," Hazel chimes in. "Some of the decorations and all seemed a little strange for Gozreh but it could just be what's normal out in this neck of the woods. Different places decorate and worship just a little differently from other places and all; Sarenrae's a pretty good example of that."

She nods along with Kaz's questions. "Yeah, we'll need as much as you can tell us - even the littlest thing could be important. But how should we go about poking into the Order's business? Everyone's got their dander up with us being here in town so I don't think we can just pass ourselves off as curious converts and trying to force things might only make it worse...especially if the Sheriff and everyone else is on the Order's side already."

Hey guys, I'm still alive but I've just been dealing with I finally had to realize was PbP burnout. Been PbPing in varying capacities and with varying game loads since early 2014 so I guess I was overdue for a burnout spell, eh? At any rate I've been doing some work behind the scenes to get my load lightened a bit so I can focus more properly on my player games and the GM games I have that excite me the most.

I've also been taking a little more time to do not-PbP stuff too, which has been nice.

At any rate, I'm going out and about for a bit this afternoon but once I get home later I'll catch up on what I've missed here and get back to posting.

"Then maybe he wants something from us," Hazel frowns as she works to wash up as best as she can and make herself more presentable. "And truth be told, now I'm curious to see what it is - if that's the case."

Ah, I misunderstood the setup.

Though she feels an unease in the pit of her stomach - Is this Ravengro all over again? - Hazel steps forward so that the men at the door can get a better look at her.

"Good morning, Sheriff," Hazel greets the men, quietly. "Mayor Greedle. Is there something we can do for you?"

I hope Hazel's concerns as expressed don't seem too meta-gamey. As a player, based on what we've seen and heard so far since getting here, it really does read to me like there's a deeper, more insidious/malicious level of dislike and unease at our presence than what the party experienced way back in Ravengro. I could be reading it totally wrong but that's what it seems like to me and it seems like it's obvious enough for basically anyone new in town to pick up on.

Hazel frowns and crosses her arms. "Okay. I'm not meaning to be rude but there's been exactly no one in this entire town that's been happy to see us here except for you, Mister Croon. I know, you don't get many travelers here in Illmarsh, but..."

She pauses for a moment and then sighs heavily.

"Most of us met in a place that was sort of like Illmarsh. We were outsiders and they didn't trust outsiders very easy. But most of them would talk with us, even if they were slow to open up. They were wary. Here, people don't just seem wary. Maybe it's my imagination but it almost feels like there's...some sort of ill will in the air."

"So...honestly, I'd almost feel better staying here even though I know we've paid for rooms at the inn," she finishes, uncrossing her arms. "But that's a lot of trouble for you and like I said, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Hazel smiles wearily. "We've seen enough that I think we've got a little right to it."

"Wait...really?" Hazel blinks, looking astonished. "Where'd they come from, then? They just live out in the swamp?"

Hazel shivers; could such a creature actually be real? And living out in the bay, of all places? Surely not. At least, she hoped not.

"That's new to me too," she agrees with Vala. "Everything I'd heard made it sound like Illmarsh was the end of the line for civilization in this area."

"Yeah, I wanted to know about that too," Hazel chimes in, trying to keep her focus on the conversation and not the array of things scattered around the workshop. "You're at least the second person I've heard today to mention a 'Watcher' but I didn't really figure the first would've wanted to explain it to us."

Back, feeling better! Thanks for your patience!

Re: the man on the rocks - It's definitely not something that Hazel is happy with but Constantin, Kaz, and Zed all have a valid point: we don't know what the heck is happening here and the guy really *could* be a common criminal. She's not ready to make an issue of it - yet.

"Um, yes, it's us," Hazel calls out. "Sorry to bother you, but...may we come in? Just for a little while; don't worry, we did get rooms at the inn earlier."

Maybe Croon will be a little more willing to talk to us about this place. And I want to ask him what this 'Watcher' is, too!

Actually, a little sicker than I first thought - or at least suffering from a lot of recovering-from-sickness malaise and lack of mental energy. Since I've still got work to contend with for the next three nights starting tonight, I'm going to take a few days off PbP to just focus on that and continuing to rest up when I'm home. Feel free to bot Hazel as needed and I'll check back in early next week!

Still here, just waiting for the GM to bring us back together~

Also I've been a little sick so there's that.

Aw, sorry it didn't work out but I'm glad you're able to have such a good attitude about it :)

"Oh right, right," Hazel nods, reaching down to grab her boots. "Thanks for taking a little time to talk with us!"

Turning to Zed, she adds, "Let's go see if the others learned anything."
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No more questions that I can think of right off.

Hey, no worries! Hope you get the job! :)

Though she's not sure if it'll help matters or not, Hazel offers the priest a nod of appreciation and then gestures to her own holy symbol. "Thank you for sharing. I've traveled many roads but I've never had the chance to speak with the faithful of Gozreh," she explains. "We didn't mean to upset your flock. We've looked around town a little and we know that you're not very used to getting travelers here. We don't mean any harm but we are looking for someone, a rider that we were told passed this way, dressed in black. Is there anything you can tell us?"

Diplomacy (Aid): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

"Maybe we should come back a little later?" Hazel whispers to Zed once it becomes apparent that they've walked in on a service in progress. Then she glances around at all the shoes that are lined up.

"But if not, I think maybe we should take our shoes off."

"Gozreh...that makes sense, actually," Hazel nods. With no one apparently nearby, she raises her hand and first knocks on the door to see if there might be a response of some sort. If nothing comes of it, she looks at Zed.

"Well, let's see if they're even open - if they're not then the door should be locked," Hazel remarks, trying the door.

Hazel studies the church building along with Zed, trying to divine anything useful about who the citizens of Illmarsh pay homage to.

"I wonder if anyone tends this place full-time or if they only open it up for specific worship times?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Kn. Religion: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Hazel tried a few posts back but given her response I assumed that it was a failure.

This is the worst...

"Okay, it's fine, I'm sure we'll be able to catch him this evening before he goes home for the night," Hazel replies, trying to be reassuring.

If he doesn't come looking for us first.

"We'll just take some time and, uh...take in the village sights! Before we let you get back to it, is there anywhere here in town that we should visit?"
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Trying to get an idea of what else might be here but if the girl isn't able or willing to name anywhere specific then Hazel's vote would be to look around for a church or the town square.

"Uh...we already came from the inn; we got some rooms there but they didn't seem really happy about letting us stay," Hazel admits. "Guess it's a pretty close-knit community here, huh?"

Not actually sure what information we're looking for right now - just general town history to start with?

"Hello!" Hazel waves, hoping that maybe some of the other villagers are a less-suspicious lot than the bunch at the inn. "Um...this'll seem like a strange question but we're new here and we'd like to learn a little more about the history of Illmarsh," she explains. "Are there any public records we could look at, please?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

"Well, at least we got a roof over our heads for awhile," Hazel whispers to her friends. "I guess we should go have a look at the rooms and then...see what we can do for a quick meal?"

I made my attempt; waiting to see if anyone else wants to try a diplomatic approach.